NYCPsych.com is hosted by Sharon R. Kahn, Ph.D. The purpose of this web site is to restore the functional art of contemplation back into the science of psychology. We should not forget that the roots of psychology began with applied introspection. And yet, contemplation, introspection, or the occasional interior monologue are derided and derailed in contemporary American society, as they have little to do with the serious business of making and getting money. Even psychotherapy, that last bastion of serious reflection in the presence of an interested other, has been conquered and enslaved by market forces. Contemplation is not a disease and truly contemplative individuals should not be forced to bow to its lash of rationed reimbursement. Here there is no urgency, no threat of third-party punishment. On this site, one can ask questions about psychology, contemplate the contemplations, and achieve insights from such activities. This is not a psychotherapy site. Please do not ask me to give you advice, as human interactions are too complex to be worthily encapsulated on a computer screen and jettisoned into Internet sites, byte by byte. The person-to-person interaction offers the crux by which interpersonal learning occurs. Learning is what this site is about. I can assist you with your research. If, after perusing this website, you conclude that I could hear you, that I could understand you, that I could lessen your alienation from this world--that contemplation with my physical companionship could be of more avail--well, I am humbled by your admiration. And would be willing to schedule an in-person session to explore what I could offer. Please go to the CONTACT ME tab and, well, you know what to do next.

"Love work, despise positions of power; do not become overly familiar with the government." Shammai

-Pictured Clara Lemlich

"And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back at you." F. Nietzsche

-Pictured Rosa Luxembourg

But alas, we must collude and even collaborate with supercapital fragile icky market place realities, while donning a masque of pleasant mutualities, or if not that, then convincingly smiling obeisances. There are other services which I offer beyond individual psychotherapy and which are of both valor and value to all parties. For example, if you are an attorney, as a provider of Worker Compensation Independent Medical Evaluations, I can assist in your pursuit of claims in conducting detailed evaluations which entail psychological testing and in-depth biopsychosocial evaluations. I can provide insightful, well-written reports about these evaluations. I am experienced in providing forensic evaluations, so I know how to phrase report interpretations so that judges and worker panels can understand the results. In this, either individuals or their lawyers can contact me directly. I do not operate in a "nut hut." You will never find gender-inappropriate pronouns littering my report, the sure signs of a boilerplate evaluation. You won't find typos or infelicitous phrasing. For your patronage, I offer much appreciation as well as evaluative excellence. So, please look at the contact information below.

There are many misfortunes which befall individuals in life as we know it. Still, we must adjust to these vicissitudes. Aging can be a psychic insult. Changes come unbesought and may be irreparable. One such change is visual deterioration, due to medical problems, genetics, or, just plain bad luck. Still, we must adjust to what cannot be prevented. The mere presence of others who have met similar fates can be a comfort in themselves. I can provide group psychotherapy to help individuals who have become visually impaired, and through group support and validation, adjust to what cannot be prevented or changed. In other words, I can do what a psychologist is meant to do. So, again, please look at my contact information.

Sigmund Freud started out seeing patients six days a week. Each session was 55 minutes. The arriving patient entered via one door; the departing patient left from another. In that five minutes, Freud would jot down his notes. After the First World War, he was in such demand that he could not possibly see one more patient. So his daughter suggested he start seeing patients for 50 minutes, five days a week. That allowed him to get another patient into the practice. A psychotherapy session was framed as lasting 50 minutes. Somehow, in America, the land that Freud considered a "mistake" the sessions were condensed into 45 minutes, three times a week. And psychotherapy became 45 minutes, once weekly. That was the first gigantic mistake--the idea that psychotherapy could be a convenience. The idea that people afraid of relationships, of "dependency" could be accomodated. Relationships are a form of dependency. Dependency is seen as toxic. Or a psychopathology. Or a "personality disorder." Symptoms arise to flee from such dependency, whether they be some form of anxiety-avoidance or depressive-isolation-avoidance. So the less contact, the more the symptoms are reinforced. And insurance complicates the issue, by mandating "independence." Psychotherapy is a relationship. Relationships entail dependency. No empirical research on shorter term therapy shows evidence for fewer than 26 sessions. Anything less means that within weeks after the research ends, the person returns to therapy, but not with that therapist. The insurance company cherry-picks the research to meet their ideals of saving money so that their board members can see a good financial return. Insurance executives gain at the loss of their members mental health. Psychotherapy is not so much about dependency as about interdependency. Both parties rely on each other. The psychologist provides the setting, the frame, the solace in a session. The client makes appropriate use of it by respecting the setting and the frame and the type of relationship offered in a session.